Isle of Iona: An overnight stay

The last stop on my May vacation was an overnight stay on the Isle of Iona. I'd been to Iona twice, but had never had time to stay overnight (there is no Sunday ferry or bus service in the off-season!). Finally!

Unfortunately, only my Instagram photos survived the return from Iona. They became corrupted somehow, This is a view from the edge of a cliff looking out into the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. The pink-flowered plant is called thrift, Armeria maritime. It was probably the bravest thing on the island, clinging to the very edges of sheer cliffs, hanging half in the wind.

It was an early start for me from the Craignure Bunkhouse, but the sun was well ahead of me. It was an easy-going bus ride through the beautiful Ross of Mull and the familiar pink marble hills of Fionnphort welcomed me back. The ferry ride was as brief as I'd remembered, but......the warmth of the sun wasn't. As I walked to the Iona Hostel, I broke a sweat.....huh? This is Scotland....right?

The day held so much potential since I didn't have to catch a 3 p.m. ferry. It was already past 10 a.m., but I didn't have to worry. I changed my shirt to something with short sleeves and headed to the beach. The day was clear and the water was aquamarine blue. I picked up rocks and denied the urge to go swimming (because no amount of summer weather would make the northern Atlantic Ocean water any warmer).

Intrepid sheep paths through the heaths to all the far reaches of the island.

I just continued along the edge until the beach ran out and a faint path passed out into the northeastern rocky crags of Calva (map of Iona). I followed it, climbing up and down and around the many hills of the coast. Sheer cliffs dropped into the ocean, into the arms of twelve-foot seaweeds, and heaths twisted in the timeless winds that beat against the rocky hills. The sun beat down and the wind blew around me, but still I followed the endlessly clever paths of the herds of sheep that had come before me. Who knew how old these paths were?

Wind-sculpted heaths of all shapes, sizes and ages.

Once I came out onto a strange hanging field with towering cliffs on either side of it. A perfect grass edge ended in a sea of perfectly smooth stones. In the middle of the sea was a low ruin of a stone wall. The herd of sheep beyond were as surprised to see me as I was to see this wall. I was in the middle of no where, having no idea how long I'd been walking, but here was this ruin. Later, I would find out it is the rumored secret hermitage of St. Columba himself, now known at the Hermit's Cell.

After about three hours of random, extreme hillwalking, I made my way southwest, by way of the sheep paths, as I knew there was a farm that way. I passed the carcass of a sheep that had fallen from a cliff; a stark reminder that what I was doing was still dangerous and that not all sheep are graceful. I came out to a rolling field of perfect green grass, good enough to make any golf course manager jealous, that was being grazed by a formidable herd of even more sheep. I made my way across the field, careful to keep my path straight and away from the sheep with their new lambs, toward the Bay of Angels.

The tide was lower than I'd ever seen it and it made the familiar bay look completely new. I walked through bands of abandoned seaweed stipes and down to look for more stones. I played in the sand and forgot for a moment that I was in Scotland: it felt like a day at the beach back home. I took a brief nap on the beach, listening the tide slip away further and the seabirds cry to each other. I felt my exposed skin start to burn, surprisingly.

My final adventure of the day was to find out where the path I'd seen people coming down on the far end of the bay went. I'd been to the island twice and had never noticed it before. It was a steep climb, well-pounded by foot and hoof. I came to a hanging lake, Loch Staonaig, fenced off from the roaming herds of sheep and cattle, which might have been the source of drinking water for the island. The path itself was in good shape; obviously well-tended. Piles of cairns, rocks of offering, pilgrimage, and homage, dotted the path. I realized I was on the path to St. Columba's Bay.

I came over a hill to see the bay below me. It was a half-moon bay with another sea of perfectly-smooth stones between the cattle and grass, and the waters of the ocean. I carefully passed through the herd of cattle and came to the edge of the sea of stone. There were piles of cairns everywhere, of all shapes and sizes. The logistics of the whole scene made no sense. How had this place come to be this way?

Again, I had the whole place to myself, and enjoyed the sound of the waves and the changing tide as I looked for more stones. What an enchanted end to a solid day of adventures.....

Look at the plants!....Oh, and there's puffins too: A daytrip to Lunga and Staffa

Puffins! They were quite calm and fine with us getting quite close to them. I was within four feet of this group and there were clouds of them just off to the left of the picture. They nest in little rabbit holes along the cliffs. The pink-flowered plant  in the foreground is a species of thrift, Armeria maritima.

My first order of business after finishing exams was to get out of Edinburgh! My friend Camilla told me about the puffins on the islands off the coast of the Isle of Mull, so I thought that would be an interesting vacation. I was on the train out of Edinburgh the Friday evening after the exam.

Wild Primula vulgaris with a hint of morning rain

growing out of the grass on Lunga.

Saturday morning was an early start, getting my tickets at the office at 7 a.m. and then running to get some snacks before the ferry left for Mull because we'd be out all day. The weather was grey, but the clouds were high, so the visibility was okay. The tour left from Tobermory, so it was a bus ride before we actually got to the tour boat, but the bus trip along the east coast of Mull was really beautiful and I got to see a flock of ADORABLE black and white baby lambs (*melt*).

The hour and fifteen minute trip out was a bit uneventful because of the weather, but we did see a white-tailed eagle and a group of harbor and common seals.

Our first stop was to Lunga, one of the Treshnish Islands off the west coast of Mull. It is home to one of the largest puffin colonies, as well as a host of other seabirds, such as the guillemot, razorbill, and shag. The tour let us off there for two hours and I was able to hike along the cliffs, see the heart rock (pictured below), and hike over the tallest part of the island and across the entire length. It was pretty precarious getting back on to the boat though. The tide was the lowest of the year and we were scrambling over some slippery, algae-covered boulders. Adventures!

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of guillemots gathered on the Heart Rock on Lunga. The noise was astounding. Never had I seen so many birds in one place in my life! The puffins are nesting on the cliffs just out of the left of the picture.

Our last stop on the trip was to the famous Staffa, home to Fingal's Cave (pictured below). It was incredible to see the unique geological feature featuring tetragonal, pentagonal, and hexagonal rock columns formed by the quick cooling of lava about 56-66 mya (well, except for the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland), as well as the really neat natural rock gardens at the top, starring several species from the extreme Caryophyllales and lichens of all kinds and colors.

It was time to head back after an hour there, though. The boat trip back was full of spitting rain and chilly winds, so I hung out inside.

The mouth of Fingal's Cave as we came around the south of Staffa.

You can see the people on the bottom right for scale.

I finally got a place at the comfortable Craignure Bunkhouse (which I highly recommend!) in Craignure for the night so I'd be ready for my hike up Dun da Ghaoithe the next day. Whew! What a day!

A glimpse of Edinburgh

 

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Sorry it's been a while since I last posted. There are so many posts in the works, so many photos of beautiful things, but I have to be realistic: I'm still in graduate school and I can't forget that!

It was a beautiful weekend though, and this afternoon, despite it getting almost completely dark by 4 p.m., was stunning. Time to share some photos while I can. You can read more about each photo at the link above.

Class is going well and we only have a couple of weeks left of actual class. We'll have some time to breathe, but it will still be filled with studying and preparing for our 12-day trip to Belize in January. In the mean time there will be an American Thanksgiving dinner and a British Christmas dinner.

September Pilgrimage to the Isle of Mull

Yikes.....this is way overdue!! So, back in September....

I really wanted to do some adventuring outside of Edinburgh before I started at university, and a pilgrimage to the Isle of Mull seemed most appropriate. I hadn't been since 2003 and I'd always remembered it fondly. I'd vowed to return and go hiking, and now was the time.

A quick four-hour train trip through the beautiful Scottish Highlands brought me to Oban, a popular European resort town, and where the CalMac ferry to Islands sets out from.

Duart Castle, the seat of the Clan McLean, as you approach Craignure on the Isle of Mull.

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From the train straight to the ferry for a beautiful, albeit windy, day scoping out the island and visiting Duart Castle, the seat of the Clan McLean, and my heritage. I took the bus from the ferry to the castle, but walked the three miles back so I could admire the scenery and see if I could find a hidden path up the mountain.

The next day I was on the morning ferry, but after missing the only bus and a miscalculation about a bike, I ended up just walking up the road out of Craignure to see how far I could get to Salen. Well, fate was looking out for me because I discovered a hiking trail at Scallastle, a Scottish Forestry Commission property. The weather wasn't great, with the clouds shrouding the mountain tops and shifting rain eventually drenching me through, but the views when the clouds would clear and the enchanting plants were well worth another trek in the rain.

It was an incredible, but sadly brief trip. But I'll be back soon!